Tag Archives: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Verstappen returns to the top step in tricky wet-dry race; P2 Norris undone by Safety Car; pole-sitting Russell salvages P3; disaster for Ferrari with double DNF; Perez crashes out

Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix was a tale of two races thanks to the rainy weather that prevailed early on giving way to sunshine and a drying track in the second half, with the resultant mayhem that entailed for the Formula 1 teams and drivers. While McLaren’s Lando Norris looked like a genuine threat for the victory, he was undone by an ill-timed safety car on Lap 25 of this 70-lap contest from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and when things had cycled out the young Englishman found himself behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Norris was leading by a whopping 12-seconds from Verstappen when the Safety Car was deployed to rescue Logan Sargent’s crippled Williams. But McLaren muffed their first opportunity to pit under yellow, while Verstappen and the other contenders dove in for fresh Intermediate Pirellis. When Norris came in a lap later, his track position had evaporated under the slow speed SC conditions and he reemerged in P3. Norris remained quick even as the track dried and he stubbornly stayed out on Inters, running two laps longer than Verstappen and the second place Mercedes of George Russell before diving to the pits for a set of Medium slick tires on Lap 47.

But when Norris reemerged again from that second stop, he was quickly gobbled up by Verstappen on fully warmed up tires, and then Russell also picked him off, though he managed to hold off his hard charging teammate Oscar Pastri. Russell then made an error steaming into the Turn 3 and 4 chicane, and Norris, now fully up to speed, pounced on his fellow Englishman to recapture P2. But even after another Safety Car was deployed to clean up a collision between Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the Williams of Alexander Albon on Lap 54, Norris could never again find the pace advantage on slicks and a drying circuit that he had clearly held earlier in wetter conditions on Inters. Verstappen easily kept the McLaren at bay for the remainder of the contest, en route to the Dutchman’s sixth victory of 2024 out of nine rounds now run. Settling for a still solid P2, Norris & McLaren were left to wonder What If, as they replayed that fateful first Safety Car sequence and belated pit stop in their heads after the race.

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Russell edges out Red Bull’s Verstappen by a whisker for surprise pole at Montreal in upgraded Mercedes; Norris P3, Piastri P4; both Ferraris out in Q2, Perez bounced in Q1

On the newly surfaced and washed-by-the-rains Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, it was the upgraded Mercedes of George Russell who found surprising pace amidst tricky conditions during Saturday Qualifying, besting Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to earn pole for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix. Despite setting identical times, Russell was awarded pole by dint of setting his time earliest in the final quali session, as Verstappen made his final near-perfect charge across the line when the checkers had already flown. It was an impressive achievement for Russell on a very green track, as the young Englishman wrestled his car and wrung its neck en route to the first Mercedes pole of the season. Despite the obvious performance enhancement wrought by the new Silver Arrows front wing design and despite looking like a contender for pole himself for a while, teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled in Q3 en route to only a P6 spot on the grid. That was nothing compared to Verstappen’s Red Bull stablemate, Sergio Perez, who, fresh off an extension that will keep him with the team for the next two seasons, struggled so mightily with rear grip that he was bounced out in Q1. The Mexican veteran will have it all to do come race day starting from down in P16 if he is to score much-needed points for Red Bull in the face of McLaren and Ferrari’s recent onslaught.

Speaking of those two challenger teams, McLaren continued its run of consistently good form, with Lando Norris and Oliver Piastri filling out the second row of the grid in P3 and P4 respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, Ferrari struggled mightily with their own grip issues after their sparkling weekend in Monaco a fortnight ago, with neither car able to escape Q2. Charles Leclerc will start in P11 and teammate Carlos Sainz was relegated to P12. RB Honda demonstrated superb improvement at this high compromise, old school track, with Daniel Ricciardo securing an impressive P5 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda’s P8. Aston Martin was also in the mix at team owner Lawrence Stroll’s and son and driver Lance Stroll’s home race, with Fernando Alonso back to form and outpacing the junior Stroll, P6 to P9. Alexander Albon’s Williams rounded out the top ten qualifiers with a lap good enough for P10 on the grid.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:13.013 1:11.742 1:12.000 26
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:12.360 1:12.549 1:12.000 27
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:12.959 1:12.201 1:12.021 25
4 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:12.907 1:12.462 1:12.103 29
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RB HONDA RBPT 1:13.240 1:12.572 1:12.178 25
6 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:13.117 1:12.635 1:12.228 23
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.851 1:11.979 1:12.280 26
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB HONDA RBPT 1:12.748 1:12.303 1:12.414 24
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:13.088 1:12.659 1:12.701 25
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:12.896 1:12.485 1:12.796 26

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve airs live at 3 pm Eastern on ABC here in the States. Then we’ll find out if Mercedes’ newfound pace is for real, if McLaren can make move for the victory from the second row or if Verstappen can return to the top step of the podium at all of their expense. Not to mention if Ferrari can rediscover their race pace that was sorely lacking in one lap trim — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out in what should be an action packed affair!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Supreme Verstappen romps to victory in Canada; Alonso outduels Hamilton for second

With no sign of the rainy weather that shook things up during Saturday qualifying, there was a decided lack of drama concerning who would win Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles-Villenuve. As has become a recurring theme this season, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again set the ultimate pace and no other car or competitor could come close to catching him. Verstappen led the field from pole and cruised to another dominant victory, earning the Red Bull team’s 100th overall victory, as well as equalling the late, great Ayrton Senna with 41 personal wins. It was also Verstappen’s sixth win from eight races run and his teammate Sergio Perez won the other two, making for a 100% success rate for the RB19 in 2023. Verstappen held his lead despite a Safety Car period that began when Mercedes’ George Russell hit the barriers of this temporary Albert Park circuit. This compressed the field back up after the pursuing Merc of Lewis Hamilton and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso followed Verstappen into the pits for the cheap stop and first change off of the Medium Pirelli ties and onto the durable Hards. But the Flying Dutchman simply darted away when the race restarted and quickly gapped Hamilton and Alonso, as he had done at the very start of the GP. It was drama free from there on out and Verstappen took the checkers nearly 10-seconds ahead of his closest pursuer. Yes, we are not even halfway through this year’s World Chamipnhip calendar but it is certainly looking like one of those years in F1 where a dominant driver and a dominant car merge seamlessly into an unstoppable, untouchable force. Short of some major shock event, beating Verstappen now looks like a nigh impossibility, even for his previously more competitive teammate Perez.

While Max was in a league of his own in Canada, the battles behind him were fierce and well fought. Hamilton was able to overtake Alonso for P2 going into Turn 1 after the lights went out to start the race but was only able to keep that position until Lap 22. The Spaniard and his Aston still had the legs on the Silver Arrow and, after several patient laps setting up Lewis, Alonso was able to grab his P2 spot back and then gap him. While Hamilton was later able to again come close to Alonso, he could never quite get within DRS range and find a way by and the seven-time champ had to be content with a solid P3 finish. Hamilton’s teammate Russell, while able to carry on after his fairy heavy contact on Lap 12, was eventually forced to retire the car on Lap 53 of this 70-lap contest with break issues undoubtedly caused by his shunt, costing the team what should have been a good double-points day. On the other hand, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll hardly set the home fans on fire with his P9 finish, especially in relation to his far quicker stablemate, but at least he did earn those two points for the team. Aston Martin is now only thirteen points behind mighty Mercedes in the Contractors’ standings, so that error and subsequent DNF by Russell could loom large down the road.

Ferrari had another kissing your sister kind of day, with Charles Leclerc able to come home in P4 and Carlos Sainz in P5. That made for good points for the Scuderia, obviously, but it is becoming clear that the SF-23 has failed to develop as a race car to this point and Ferrari are actually the fourth best team on the grid at present rather than being a credible threat to Red Bull’s dominance. While the team and drivers struck an optimistic tone post-race, particularly regarding tire degradation, their key bugaboo, the cars still look hard to handle at times and not all that fast in race trim, not to mention Mercedes and Aston Martin are not exactly standing still regarding their own upgrades. The second Red Bull of Perez was able to recover somewhat from a yet another poor qualifying effort and a P12 start to secure P6 by race’s end. But that felt more like damage limitation rather than any kind of inspiring comeback. If Perez cannot qualify either first or second in tandem with Verstappen, he has no real shot challenging his teammate for wins, much less the increasingly out of reach title.

Rounding out the Top 10, Alexander Albon converted the Williams team’s excellent Saturday strategy decisions to get him into Q3 and a P10 start into an even more impressive P7 finish, besting the Alpine of Esteban Ocon in equal conditions in the process. And the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas took the last point in P10 with a very savvy veteran drive to clear other midfield runners after starting down in P14.

Top 10

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 70 1:33:58.348 25
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 70 +9.570s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 70 +14.168s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 70 +18.648s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 70 +21.540s 10
6 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 70 +51.028s 9
7 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 70 +60.813s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 70 +61.692s 4
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 70 +64.402s 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 70 +64.432s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is is a fortnight’s time — the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. With seemingly unstoppable momentum going in, look for Verstapppen to hunt down his team’s one hundred and first win on their eponymous home track. Hope to see you then to find out how it all skies out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Verstappen prevails for pole but rain scrambles grid at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve; lucky Hulkenberg takes P2 when Red Flag disadvantages P3 Alonso

With variably wet and rainy conditions playing havoc during Saturday qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Red Bull ace Max Verstappen nevertheless prevailed over both the elements and his adversaries to earn pole in tricky conditions at a sodden Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. While it wasn’t surprising to see Verstappen notch his third consecutive pole and fifth out of eight rounds run, he also benefitted from smart strategy by being first to set a banker lap in Q3 and then watching as conditions deteriorated and times got slower and slower as the final quali session wore on. This had the effect of scrambling the grid behind Verstappen resulting in the surprise result of Nico Hulkenberg setting the second fastest time in his Haas ahead of the P3 Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. Alonso lost out on a higher grid spot when a Red Flag came out for Oscar Piastri’s spun out McLaren directly after Hulkenberg crossed the line but before Alonso could get there with what looked to be a superior time. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell did well in those tricky conditions to take P4 and P5 on the grid respectively and will be the only contending team with two cars within the Top 10 to start the race.

To that point, Carlos Sainz had the lone surviving Ferrari in Q3 after teammate Charles Leclerc waited too long to make a quick switch to slicks in a briefly drying Q2 session. While the Spaniard was only able to qualify a relatively perfunctory P8, it’s likely he will be dropped form even that humble position after a couple of dangerous incidents where his Prancing Horse clearly seemed to be dawdling in the middle of the road to set himself up while other drivers sped his way at full chat. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate and, for now, closest championship rival Sergio Perez also missed the boat on tire strategy in Q2. He frankly seemed a bit spooked by the conditions in choosing to remain on Intermediate wet tires throughout rather than gamble on slicks, as many others had done successfully. Checo missed Q3 for the third race weekend in a row and will have fight his way to the front from down in P12. And Alonso’s Aston teammate Lance Stroll also failed to emerge from Q2 after a lurid slide in that session and will to start from P13 at his home race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:20.851 1:19.092 1:25.858 26
2 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:22.730 1:20.305 1:27.102 25
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:21.481 1:19.776 1:27.286 25
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:21.554 1:20.426 1:27.627 26
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:21.798 1:20.098 1:27.893 25
6 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:22.114 1:20.406 1:27.945 25
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.998 1:19.347 1:28.046 26
8 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:22.248 1:19.856 1:29.294 26
9 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:22.190 1:19.659 1:31.349 24
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.938 1:18.725 DNF 24

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race air live on ABC beginning at 2PM Eastern here in the States. With less of a chance of rain in the forecast for Montreal tomorrow, it should intriguing to watch the grid re-sort itself on a dry circuit. Whether anyone has anything for Verstappen is quite a different matter. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Verstappen holds off dogged Sainz to take victory in Canada; Hamilton finishes a strong P3, Russell P4 on good day for Mercedes; Leclerc salvages P5 after starting last

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen survived a late Safety Car that allowed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to get back up to the Dutchman’s gearbox and hound him for the lead over the final laps to earn his first victory at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. Under sunny & clear skies following Saturday’s rain-effected Qualifying, Verstappen saw his comfortable lead erased when Yuki Tsunoda inexplicably binned his AlphaTauri coming out of the pits on cold tires. With the Safety Car deployed almost immediately to retrieve the disconsolate Tsunoda’s mount, Sainz took the opportunity to dive into the pits for a cheap stop time-wise under yellow and a set of fresh Pirelli rubber, which also gave the Spaniard 6-lap younger tires compared to the race-leading Red Bull. Sainz was absolutely primed and ready to get past Verstappen once the Safety Car withdrew at the end of Lap 54 and racing got back under way. As Verstappen restarted the proceedings coming out of the last chicane, turned close to the Wall of Champions and steamed down the start/finish straight, Sainz didn’t let Max gain an inch on him, sticking to the Red Bull like glue. But even with a full 15 laps remaining and Sainz hounding him the rest of the race, Verstappen had the pace and skill to hold off the hard charging Prancing Horse filling his mirrors. Such is the excellence of this year’s Red Bull and its championship leading number one driver that, despite the Ferrari having the advantage of DRS for so many laps, it was Verstappen who took the checkered flag and his first victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It was also Max’s impressive fifth win in the last six contests, which is some serious mo in his title hunt. For Sainz, it was a valiant effort in a season full of a lot of errors and he even set the race’s fastest lap while in pursuit. But he’ll have to be satisfied with another P2 and the elusive quest for his first-ever F1 win will have to wait until at least the next round at Silverstone in a fortnight.

For as bad as Mercedes looked all weekend long, the Silver Arrows had a remarkably good race. While they didn’t really have the pace to challenge the leading Red Bull and Ferrari on even terms, Lewis Hamilton finally got some breaks and drove a savvy and clean race to take the last step on the podium in P3. At a track where he has a record seven F1 victories, Hamilton was also clearly the better Merc for once this season, easily besting his ambitious young teammate, George Russell, who nonetheless scored a very satisfying P4. Mercedes are definitely improving after the troublesome and very bouncy rollout of their new W13 chassis and this was their second consecutive 3-4 finish, this time swapping the order from Azerbaijan a week ago with Hamilton happily on the podium. But compared to the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari, team Mercedes know that they’ve still got a lot of work to ahead if they’ve got even the slimmest shot of getting back into title contention.

Sainz’s more heralded teammate Charles Leclerc did yeoman’s work to haul himself up from last place on the grid after upgrading his power unit and subsequently being assessed several penalties at once. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Vettel finishes first but is demoted to P2 by penalty, Hamilton elevated to the win in controversial Canadian GP; Leclerc P3 on disappointing day for Ferrari

It was all going to plan for Ferrari and their lead driver Sebastian Vettel during Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix. Having pipped Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for pole in Saturday qualifying, Vettel showed that exquisite Ferrari performance was no fluke in race trim as the German 4-time World Champion got away to a fast start and led nearly every lap on the tight and dusty street/park Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on the Ille Notre Dame in Montreal. But after their first and only stop for fresh tires, Vettel on Lap 26 and Hamilton on Lap 29, the Englishman turned up his superlative Mercedes engine to “party mode” and slowly began to reel in the leading Prancing Horse. While Ferrari also gave their man maximum available power, by Lap 39 Hamilton was in DRS range of Vettel, filling his mirrors with the hard charging Silver Arrow. After nearly 10 laps of non-stop pursuit it was Vettel who finally blinked with disastrous consequences for his hopes of victory on the day. On Lap 48 Vettel lost control as he was entering the twisty Turn 4 complex and found himself sliding onto the grass behind the curbs. Hamilton was close and dove to the outside to make the pass but Vettel swerved back onto the track barely in control of his car and nearly forced Hamilton into the wall. That the cars didnt touch was testament to Vettel’s remarkable car control but nonetheless Hamilton’s progress was balked as he had to back out of the throttle and Vettel flew away from him down the circuit.

Mercedes immediately complained to the stewards, of course. And on Lap 57 one of the most consequential decisons of the season was made when the stewards judged that Vettel had rejoined the track in an unsafe manner and levied a 5-second time penalty against the German. Hamilton, despite having lost the best edge on his Hard tires after pushing so hard to try and overhaul Vettel and locking up several times at the hairpin, was nonetheless well within 3 seconds of the leader. That meant that so long as Hamilton could keep that gap he was the de facto leader of the race despite Vettel running firmly in front of him. Vettel was livid on the radio and Hamilton made sure to keep close to the Ferrari’s gearbox. And when the final lap of the 70-lap contest ended Vettel crossed the line first but had lost the race to Hamilton due to the stewards’ controversial penalty assessment. After the cars finished their cool down laps Vettel refused to move his car to the end of the pits into victory lane or to participate in the pit lane interviews. He only very reluctantly agreed to join the podium ceremony most likely under threat of further FIA penalties. But even as he made his way to the podium, Vettel switched the order of the placing signs down in the pits, moving the #2 over to Hamilton’s Merc and the #1 in front of the empty space where his Ferrari should have been.

Pics courtesy GrandPRix247.com and Formula1.com

While the decision was generally unpopular and cast a pall over a very tense and competitive affair, as well as Hamilton’s emotions after inheriting the victory, one can see the disputed action from both angles. Vettel did make a mistake on that momentous Lap 48 while being pushed hard and pressurized by Hamilton’s onslaught. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Vettel snatches pole from Hamilton as Ferrari come to play in Canada; Leclerc P3 while Bottas struggles in P6, Verstappen bounced in Q2

For the first time since Bahrain all the talk of Ferrari’s hypothetical straight line speed advantage over Mercedes finally materialized as Sebastian Vettel pipped Lewis Hamilton for pole at Circuit Gilles-Villenueve in Saturday qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes man had looked supreme throughout Q3 and it once again appeared that Hamilton would crush whatever fragile dreams of competitiveness Ferrari harbored by setting purple sector after purple sector. But Vettel and the fabled Sucderia had the last laugh today when the German four-time champion put in a blistering effort as the seconds ran down in Q3 to best Hamilton by two-tenths of a second. It was Vettel’s first pole since the German Grand Prix last year and a much needed boost for both the team and Vettel, who has looked less than fully confident at times this season. Obviously, Seb will also need to covert his pole into a victory on Sunday to jump start what is beginning to look like a hopeless campaign for Ferrari against the might of Mercedes. And look for Hamilton, who starts along side him in P2, to try every trick in his book to overhaul Vettel early and once again show that he and his Silver Arrow are an unstoppable force.

Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc qualified P3 and seemed to lose a little confidence as the day wore on. But it was nothing like the travails that afflicted Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate and nearest points rival. With Hamilton having won the last two contests on the trot after Bottas’ victory in Azerbaijan, the Finn is starting to look a little wobbly in the face of the Englishman’s  onslaught. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Vettel masterful in Montreal in dominating win, reclaims championship lead over uninspired P5 Hamilton; Bottas salvages P2 for Mercedes, Verstappen P3 for Red Bull in processional Canadian GP

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel went from pole to the victory in seemingly effortless fashion at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, dominating a race where once again overtaking proved exceedingly difficult. That resulted in a somewhat desultory contest where finishing positions were mainly dictated by starting positions. Once again F1 finds itself in a season with record setting fast cars but a lack of on-track action due to the overly aero sensitive nature of these magnificently engineered machines, as well as a lack of tire degradation form this year’s Pirelli rubber. All that said it is shaping up to be a seesaw season results-wise between the top contenders from the elite Mercedes and Ferrari teams. And this weekend it was Vettel’s turn to win again, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton exhibited a surprisingly similar malaise to the one that seemed to afflict him in slow-speed Monaco only this time at one of his favorite fast tracks here in Montreal. Hamilton couldn’t overcome his mediocre qualifying effort and in fact lost a position from his P4 start on a pit stop overcut by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Englishman could never get back at Ricciardo and came home a disappointing P5. With Mercedes holding back on their new engine for now Hamilton was definitely down on power and coupled with Vettel’s dominating victory, the 50th of his illustrious F1 career, it saw the Drivers’ Championship lead swing back to the German by a single point. So while the racing may not be of the most exciting overtaking variety, this 2018 season is providing some real suspense as to which driver will walk away with the crown at the end of it.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Valtteri Bottas was the better of the two Silver Arrows, maintaining his P2 starting position in the face of a first lap onslaught by Red Bull’s hyper-aggressive Max Verstappen. While he didn’t really have anything to challenge Vettel in front, missing his only minor chance by running a ragged Lap 56 when he was almost within striking distance, Bottas drove well once again to come home P2. It was a good salvage job when Mercedes seemed throughly outclassed by the red cars this weekend. One wonders what the team dynamic would be had Bottas not DNF’d from the lead in Baku with an ill-timed puncture that ceded Hamilton a very lucky win. Verstappen had a much needed steady and incident-free race after a lot of erratic performances this season. While Bottas held him off early and Vertsappen never really had another shot to advance, young Max managed his race well enough to take the last step on the podium in P3. With Ricciardo’s overachieving P4 it made for another very solid day for team Red Bull and their slightly underpowered RB-14.

With the difficult nature of overtaking in this race with these cars, Ferrari’s second driver Kimi Raikkonen found himself stuck in P6 after Ricciardo also pipped him at the start of the race. Ferrari could never quite figure out how to get the veteran Finn back in the mix and so Raikkonen finished there as well. Best of the rest after the elite 6 was Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who finished P7 followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz in P8. Rounding out the top 10 Esteban Ocon came home P9 for Force India and Charles Leclerc’s stock kept rising with another splendid drive to take the last point in P10 for perpetual backmarkers Sauber.

A scary opening lap shunt between Williams Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Brendan Hartley caused a Safety Car until Lap 4. Hartley went airborne briefly and was checked at hospital but was cleared medically and released. It was another disappointing result for the struggling Kiwi, as well as for the Canadian Stroll, who found himself out of the GP before the end of the first lap in front of his home fans.

Top 10 finishers of the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 68 1:28:31.377 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 68 +7.376s 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 68 +8.360s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 68 +20.892s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 68 +21.559s 10
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 68 +27.184s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 67 +1 lap 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 67 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +1 lap 2
10 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 67 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In two weeks’ time the next race will feature the return of France to the GP calendar after a decade’s absence. The first French Grand Prix since 2008, it will be back at the venerable Circuit Paul Ricard. Hope to see you then to see if Vettel can extend his points lead or if Hamilton can back to his winning ways on this new-old circuit!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Vettel untouchable at Gilles-Villeneuve for Canada pole; Bottas P2 while Verstappen bests Hamilton for P3

At Montreal on Saturday, the first return to pure speed after the ultra-slow Monaco street circuit two weeks ago, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari showed that they definitely have the legs to go toe-to-toe with Mercedes in 2018. Vettel laid down a dominant 1:10.764 lap, a new track record at high-speed Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, to authoritatively take pole for tomorrow’s Canadian GP. It appeared that he and the team found that little bit extra to pull away from the rest of the contenders in Q3 after everyone in the top tier looked to be very close in the prior two quali sessions. Vettel’s superb effort also marked the end of a 17-year pole drought in Canada for the famous team from Maranello.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was the next quickest man and will line up alongside Vettel’s Prancing Horse in P2. Not for the first time this year Bottas bested his points-leading teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who is usually a master at this wonderful neck-stretching circuit. Worse still, Hamilton found himself bumped back to P4 when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crossed the line at the checkered flag .06 ahead of the Englishman. Verstappen was no doubt eager to put his ill-timed practice crash at Monaco behind him and once again display his prodigious talents when he keeps his car on the track. For Hamilton, it was another disappointment after his desultory P3 finish in Monte Carlo a fortnight ago in what has been an up and down season. He also must have been bewildered as to why he could never quite hook up a full clean lap at a place where he had previously scored six poles and six victories, including his first-ever F1 win back in 2007. Come race day, Hamilton will be looking to return to his previously superlative form here but he’ll have to get by some fairly formidable talent to tie Michael Schumacher and take a seventh win in Canada.

Kimi Raikkonen muffed a chance to improve his time late in Q3 and had to settle for P5 after looking genuinely quick all day. It should be interesting to see how Ferrari can strategize to get the veteran Finn back into the fray and try to assist Vettel’s grander aspirations. Daniel Ricciardo also underperformed somewhat and seemed unable to carry the confidence of his supreme race-winning victory in Monaco across the pond. After showing some signs of perhaps contending for a front row position in Q2, Ricciardo got a reality check in Q3 and  will start back in P6. Behind the three elite teams, Renault had a good qualifying performance with Nico Hulkenberg grabbing P7 on the grid and Carlos Sainz P9. They were bracketed by the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez who rounded out the top 10 in P8 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian Gran Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:11.710 1:11.524 1:10.764 18
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:11.950 1:11.514 1:10.857 20
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.008 1:11.472 1:10.937 16
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:11.835 1:11.740 1:10.996 21
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:11.725 1:11.620 1:11.095 20
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.459 1:11.434 1:11.116 18
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:12.795 1:11.916 1:11.973 15
8 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.577 1:12.141 1:12.084 14
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:12.689 1:12.097 1:12.168 15
10 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.702 1:12.395 1:12.671 13

Complete qualifying results amiable via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ABC starting at 2PM here in the States. Can Hamilton recover his mastery at Circuit Gille-Villeneuve or will it be a dual between his teammate Bottas and their Ferrari archrival Vettel? Or will young Vertsappen crash the party instead of out the race to steal the victory? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Hamilton blisters track record to score pole in Montreal but Vettel right behind in P2; Bottas P3

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton set the all-time fastest lap on the ultra-quick and treacherous Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Saturday logging a blistering 1:11:459 on Illes Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada and besting his closest pursuer, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, by 3-tenths of a second. Desperate to make amends for his subpar Monaco qualifying performance, which saw him bounced in Q2 en route to a damaging P7 finish, Hamilton’s superb effort gave him his 65th career pole. That tied the Englishman with his personal hero, Ayrton Senna, and after the session was over the Senna family presented him with a period official publicity helmet from the late F1 legend with a promise of an actual race worn version to come. Hamilton was visibly moved by the gracious gesture and it should give him even more motivation to run to victory come Sunday on a track where he has often dominated and where he has 5 career wins, including his first ever top step in F1 back in 2007 when he was a rookie with McLaren.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But as dominant as Hamilton’s Mercedes was Ferrari and Vettel must be well pleased to have ended up so very close to the lead Merc. The Monaco winner and points leader slotted in at P2 with the only other time below 1:12 and it will be all to play for when the lights go out so look for some fierce dicing between these ultra-competitive pilots, as well as key strategic decisions between the two mega-factory teams. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valterri Bottas was just a bit behind the elite duo in P3, while Vettel’s wingman Kimi Raikkonen, still stewing over a potential Monaco win that he failed to convert from pole, took P4. The start of the tomorrow’s race with those mixed Silver and Red front two rows should be very interesting indeed.

The Red Bulls were once again the best of the rest, with Max Verstappen laying down a time good enough for fifth on the grid and Daniel Ricciardo following up his excellent Monaco podium with a P6 start. Felipe Massa showed one again that the Williams is suited to tracks with long straights and nabbed a P7 starting spot, while Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon both showed  good pace for Force India with laps good enough for P8 and P9 on the grid respectively. Renault’s excellent Nico Hulkenberg gave a good effort to get into Q3 and will start P10.

Top 10 Qualifiers for the Canadian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.692 1:12.496 1:11.459 21
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:13.046 1:12.749 1:11.789 21
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:12.685 1:12.563 1:12.177 20
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:13.548 1:12.580 1:12.252 23
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.177 1:12.751 1:12.403 26
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.543 1:12.810 1:12.557 28
7 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:13.435 1:13.012 1:12.858 27
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.470 1:13.262 1:13.018 22
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.520 1:13.320 1:13.135 22
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:13.804 1:13.406 1:13.271 24

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs on NBC proper live starting at 2PM Eastern here in the States. With Hamilton and Vettel nice and tuck and the Mercedes-Ferrari dual as close as possible it’ll be game on in Montreal to see who bag glory and the most points out of this demanding and fast race. Hope to see you then!